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People should be deterred from being involved in criminal gang activities but those involved in so-called "joint enterprise" crimes should be sentenced for the crime they are guilty of, Sir Alan Beith has said.

The Justice Committee, chaired by the MP, has called for a review of the legislation, which currently contains a rule that in a joint enterprise murder, it is not possible to charge "minor" players with a lesser offence such as manslaughter.

An urgent review is needed into the so-called 'joint enterprise' legislation which was used to convict the men who murdered black teenager Stephen Laurence, a group of MPs has said.

The 'joint enterprise' rules were used to convict the killers of Stephen Lawrence Credit: ITV News

The legislation currently contains a rule that in a joint enterprise murder, it is not possible to charge "minor" players - who did not encourage or assist in the crime - with a lesser offence such as manslaughter.

The Justice Committee wants that rule scrapped to stop people being sentenced to life in prison for murder when they were not directly involved in the killing.

Joint enterprise laws can apply to any offence, but has recently been used to prosecute murders - in particular ones involving gangs.

Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted and jailed under 'joint enterprise' for Stephen Lawrence's murder Credit: PA

They have been invoked in a number of high-profile cases, including the 1993 stabbing of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence in south London.

David Norris and Gary Dobson were convicted under the rules for his murder.

An investigation has been launched over the conduct of one serving and two former Met Police officers in relation to the Stephen Lawrence case.

Stephen Lawrence was killed in a racist murder over 20 years ago. Credit: ITV News

The Independent Police Complaints Commission will investigate allegations of discreditable conduct and breaches of honesty and integrity by Commander Richard Walton.

He is accused of meeting with an undercover officer in 1998 and obtaining information about the family of Lawrence and their supporters "potentially undermining the inquiry (into Stephen's murder) and public confidence", the commission has announced.

They will also investigate allegations of discreditable conduct on the part of two former Met officers - then Detective Inspector Robert Lambert and Commander Colin Black.

The IPCC started the probe after the Stephen Lawrence Independent Review undertaken by Mark Ellison QC.

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Home Secretary Theresa May has said it may be difficult to find out who was responsible for authorising an undercover police officer to spy on the family of Stephen Lawrence.

But Mrs May assured MPs that "every effort" will be made to ensure the truth comes out in the numerous investigations and inquiries into the police's conduct after Stephen was killed.

Home Secretary Theresa May. Credit: Press Association

She spoke after Labour's Diane Abbott called for an assurance the identity of whoever authorised the Special Demonstration Squad's (SDS) "spy in the Lawrence camp" will be revealed.

But Mrs May suggested that Scotland Yard's record keeping on its own investigations into police corruption may make it difficult after the review also revealed the mass shredding of key evidence in 2003.

She said: "I think everybody in this House and across the country was shocked at the findings of the Ellison review, particularly in relation to the question that there was somebody from the

Special Demonstration Squad who was, in the terms that Mark Ellison put it, effectively a spy in the camp around the Lawrence family.

"Every effort will be made to ensure that the truth comes out in relation to this."

The force is writing to Doreen and Neville Lawrence in order to discuss Operation Herne, the probe into Scotland Yard's Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) - the top secret unit that was up and running for nearly 40 years.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe plans to appoint an "independent multi-disciplinary team" to search the force's archives for any available evidence for a public inquiry into undercover policing.

Doreen Lawrence has called for 'decisive action' after a report found the Metropolitan Police spied on her family Credit: Nick Ansell/PA Wire

The mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has demanded the Metropolitan police chief take "decisive action" after a damning report found officers had spied on her family.

Baroness Lawrence has urged Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe to co-operate fully with the judicial inquiry ordered by the Home Secretary following the Ellison review's "devastating" revelations, in a letter seen by the BBC.